Acceptance
by rainingWolf
Summary: Shiro couldn't be whole if she just fished his right arm out of the garbage compactor. Allura had reached in, expecting something else, anything else, maybe one of the Mice had been trapped- but then her hand touched something foreign, something familiar, and she pulled, pulled…/ For shalluraweek. Day 5- Lost/Found. Cover Image source inside.


For shalluraweek. Day 5- Lost/Found.

Cover Art by **shalalalalura** on Tumblr.

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The arm laid on the table, offending her with every moment it continued to be in her presence. Was this an illusion? A trial? A test to her belief? She could no longer tell after they rescued Shiro from Zarkon and the Black Lion finally showed signs of life. Not since Voltron's leader emerged from the cryopod with an unfocused gaze but a whole body.

Now… Shiro couldn't be whole if she just fished his right arm out of the garbage compactor. The Castle had alerted her, as if sensing that she needed to know exactly what was going on within the confines of the pristine whiteness that had never been dark. Allura had reached in, expecting something else, anything else, maybe one of the Mice had been trapped- but then her hand touched something foreign, something familiar, and she pulled, pulled…

She never knew her heart could hurt this much, could twist this sharply at the sight of a material object.

Not knowing what else to do, she wrapped it up and carried it out of the room. The arm seemed to almost burn up in her grasp but she cradled it because how could Voltron's leader not be whole. How could he lead when he was missing something he didn't want but _needed_?

Allura knocked once, twice, held a breath before she was rewarded with the sounds of a lock unclicking. The door to Shiro's chambers cracked open slightly before fully opening. The Black Paladin stood tall, his shoulders just as broad a she remembered, but something was different, something had changed-

Shiro turned sideways to let her in and the breath she was holding shot out of her when she saw the angry lines gnawing at the stump and she was rooted, couldn't move-

Shiro's eyebrows furrowed and he shrank into himself like a tree shriveling. He moved back, the stump of an arm almost catching on the door before it too fell away to shadows. Shiro never looked away from what she was carrying and Allura was suddenly reminded of her goal, of her purpose, as she entered the room.

The arm she was holding seemed to grow heavy as every step she took, Shiro stuttered backwards, a wounded animal. She stopped when his back hit the wall. She paused for a beat, two, then held out the left hand, the one that Haggar had implanted onto the man many moments ago.

There was nothing but Shiro's ragged breath as he spat out, "I don't want that. Why did you bring it back?"

Her answer was simple. "Because you need it."

"No. I don't."

Allura held it out further and the cloth she had first wrapped the arm in unfurled and drifted onto the floor, forgotten. "Yes you do. It is a part of you," and she held her head up, never letting her voice waver even as her heart was breaking at the man cowering before her, "even if you don't realize it."

She didn't flinch when Shiro lunged forward. The prosthetic arm fell on the floor besides the cloth as he grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer so that she could see the cosmos in his grey eyes.

"I. Don't. Want. It."

The Princess didn't protest as her bones creaked under the pressure. Instead, she put the hand that wasn't cracking onto Shiro's face that hadn't seen sunlight in 54 days and whispered, "You're not whole without it. I know you know this. I know you're scared because it's a reminder of what has happened. Of what has changed. But it is a part of you now. You must accept it."

She let her hand fall. She missed the warmth but she didn't let it show as she retreated. Shiro had let her go when she had laid her other hand on him.

Allura didn't hesitate as she took one step back, then two, in order to create some distance but she stopped when Shiro moved forward for the first time since he stepped out of the healing pod. He bent low, head exposed for a beheading, as he lifted his right arm off the floor.

He was shaking.

"Please," he murmured before he looked at her the way he used to before the Black Lion opened and he wasn't inside it. "Help me."

"Of course," she said. She reached forward, felt frayed wires, felt warmth, felt Shiro's heart beating beneath her thumb, and discovered how to comfort the man she loved.

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\- Took a rather abstract way of integrating today's prompt. My initial idea was completely different than this but a friend, **American Ishida** , suggested "what if Shiro lost his arm and Allura found it?" At first, I wanted to do comedy but as you can see, this story did not come out comedic at all.

\- I wanted it to be like Shiro was lost and broke the Galra arm off because he couldn't stand the sight of it. Allura discovered the arm and reunited it with its owner, finding out her feelings and how to comfort Shiro. Thus, Shiro was "lost" but was "found" by Allura. I know, I know. Far-fetched. But I tried.

\- Reviews are much appreciated. Does anyone even read my A/N? Riperino.

\- Enjoy! :)


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